Grego

I'm level two in US Army combatives (which would be I green-brown belt, i guess) In Chito-Ryu, I'm a 5th kyu (green belt0

We do hard contact body sparring, not contact to the head (though it happens at times) We generally don't wear padding, and miraculously, we've been able to avoid any bad injuries

I"m 5'9 and 150 lbs, and i grapple. I generally spar with people nearly twice my size. In grappling shear size can amount to something. I was once wrestling a guy who was so large that he literally just laid on top of me, and I had to tap about because I couldn't breathe. That said, I'm a pretty good grappler. My size lets me outmanuever people and squirm out of what most people throw at me. I feel comfortable sparring larger guys. So, really, size only matters when all other things are equal.

Really, creating your own "style" is over-rated. When you integrate a bunch of different Martial Arts, it becomes Mixed Martial Arts, which you can learn at any McDojo in the united states. There are some instances when I think its cool (my own sensei broke away from the United States Chito-ryu federation, and formed the American Chito-ryu Kempo Federation). Most of those reason are political. When your federation is stepping on your toes. I'm not saying that you're guilty of this, but it seems that there are alot of people out there who create their own style for the sake of creating their own style. While you are probably legitimate, there are hundreds out there that aren't.

I've been wearing it, twisting it, rolling it, ect ect. Its looking much better now. Thanks.

good advice, thanks.

I meant besides that I've been wearing it for a little bit around the house.

Hi guys, I just bought a brand new green belt from Kataaro.com (custom martial arts supplies). Anyways, it is a very good belt, but it is very thick. What is the best way to break in a good belt? I know the cheap ones tend to break in pretty quickly, because the material isn't as good.

My style doesn't allow for anybody to wear anything other than white. However, Shodan and up are permitted to wear black gi pants with a white top.

Location is very important. If your a victim of a home invasion, at least in Kentucky, you can get by with killing the guy. However, you'd get in alot of trouble if you used the same force in a bar fight. That said, I have no qualms about using max for to defend myself. About three weeks ago (my 23 birthday, actually), I went to a bar. I stepped outside to use the ATM from the bank next door. While i was getting my money, a drug dealer came up and tried to sell me meth. When I told him no, he seemed like he was going to get violent. I'm not taking chances with a methed out drug dealer who is three times my size. I pulled out my benchmade auto-opener. The drug dealer ran away. Anyways, my point is that you can't take any chances with some people. I'm not violent, but I'll defend myself according to the situation.

Character is VERY important in martial arts. If you look throughout history, the Warrior-caste has always been bound by a code of behavior. Samurai followed Bushido, European Knights followed Chivalry. Even today, the US Army has the "Army Values" The reasoning behind this is that we teach potentially deadly techniques. We don't want thugs and criminals to know them. That is why improving your character should be so important. Martial arts are not about fighting. They are about self-defense and self-improvement.

If it were included in the bill, like 70 bucks a month for membership to the Dojo, and being able to go to all classes. However, while it would be cool to familiarize yourself with other styles, two weeks between classes of the same style would make progression in any style very hard.

I don't pay anything. My sensei teaches me for free (he runs a non-profit Karate organization.) He charges a very marginal testing fee, just to pay for the belts. After all the time I've studied with him, i've paid him maybe 50 bucks. Of course, I also help him run the classes and such. "Troubled" teens can be a bit of a handful.

supposedly these Kata were actually modeled after real fights. I think it was a way to teach martial arts by disguising them as dance. *shrugs* Anyways, my sensei created his own kata. It was based on a fight he got into when he was a bouncer

And alot of the Okinawan Styles share Kata, because all the founders of those styles were taught those Kata by the same people OSensei Chitose very famously only studied the Kata Seisan for about 7 or 8 years before learning any others.

Espina, I don't currently know any more Kata. I'm just getting back into Karate, after a six year hiatus (Or the US Army). But no, I've never competed in Kata. I'm more of a sparring type.

Right now, I'm learning Seisan and Shi-ho-hai. I've also studied the first three taikyoku, even though they aren't really chito-ryu kata. My sensei doesn't do the traditional chito-ryu lower Kyu kata.

I have a similar problem. I'm not overweight at all, I just have a slight gut. Often, running isn't enough. I knew a Army Captain who was trying to lose weight for her wedding. She stopped running completely, and started doing a brisk walk for an hour a day. She lost about 30lbs in two months. She was a great runner, too. Its just that sometimes, running doesn't give you the fat burn you need. If you look on most treadmills/elipticals there are settings for fat burn and cardio. Try doing lower intensity stuff for a longer amount of time. And cut back on your calorie intake.

I hate long belts, probably because of my grappling backround. I wish I still had my old white belt...it wouldn't fit me anymore though. That was a long time ago.

A brand new white belt always reminds me of bunny ears or something To break in my belt, I'll tie it on at home, and wear it around the house for a little bit.

I don't know if this would work for me. Two weeks between classes? I mean, most Karateka I know are in the Dojo at least twice a week. I don't think you'd get much training value.

White White, with 1 stripe Yellow Orange Blue Green III Green II Green I Brown II Brown I Black

My sensei likes to have a green belt or higher spar EVERYBODY in the school one after another. This is to deliberately cause the person to get tired and force them to conserve energy. This isn't necessarily for tests, but lets face it...when you test, your instructor should already have a sense of your ability to defend yourself.

The first martial artists never used a ranking system to self-proclaim themselves masters of an art. OSensei Funakoshi is credited with introducing the belt system we use now. Before that, all recognition came from PEERS. Unless your skills are acknowledged by those around you, throwing around a black belt is worthless. It sounds like his reasoning behind donning a black belt was for attention. I'm sorry, but I can't take the guy seriously as a martial artist. If all he wants to do is fight, there are many many MMA places springing up around the country. Karate, TKD, and every other martial art is more than just fighting.

When I first started Karate, my sensei was a shodan. We had a yondan Kyoshi, but he didn't teach much. On the occasions that he did teach, the students were confused, and we had to wait until the sensei took the class over again for us to really grasp the concepts of what the Yondan was trying to teach. Experience is a factor in teaching, but the truth is that not everybody has the skills to teach effectively. It doesn't matter if you're the best martial artist 10th dan...if you can't relate your skills, you shouldn't be teaching.